Fergie not exactly ‘thrilled’

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be here,” Sarah Ferguson told a large crowd of primarily booksellers at the Children’s Book & Author Breakfast early May 26 at Book Expo in New York.

The former duchess, caught seemingly red-handed in an alleged influence peddling scheme, didn’t look it. She seemed, well, tight, although she did loosen up as the hour and a half long luncheon continued. Speculation had been that she wouldn’t show, but she did. The New York media was waiting for her.

“It was very difficult for me to get to the Javits Center this morning,” she said. “One or two people were in the way.”

That was it. No overt mention of the recent incident, in which she offered an “open door” to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, in exchange for a large bag of cash. No apologies either.

The strapped Sarah was promoting a series of children’s books she has written that introduce little ones to life’s harsh lessons. The title of one of the books is sort of prophetic: “Ashley Learns About Strangers.”

She went about her duties as emcee of the panel of authors with enthusiasm however — you gotta give her that.

All the books carry a message, Peck’s about a group of girls who die tragically in a car wreck because the driver is talking and texting on her cell phone.

Peck dramatically spoke of “an era when adolescents can be eaten alive by conformity, an era when they can never turn off their cell phones.”

A former English teacher, Peck spoke with humor and pathos of the 70s, “when the school system was destroyed … English became Language Arts … and a pivotal moment in American history when power passed from adults to children.”